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| Upheaval of the Five Barbarians (五胡亂華) | |||||||||
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 Migration patterns of the Five Barbarians into China prior to the upheaval. | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Han-Zhao |
Xianbei allies Tuoba in Dai Duan tribe in Liaoxi | Cheng-Han | Sima Ying loyalists (307–308) | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Liu Yuan Liu Xuan Liu Cong Liu Yao Shi Le (after 307) Wang Mi  |
Emperor Huai of Jin Emperor Min of Jin Sima Yue Gou Xi Wang Yan Liu Kun Wang Jun Sima Bao Zhang Gui Zhang Shi Tuoba Yilu † Duan Wuwuchen Duan Jilujuan Duan Pidi[1][2][3][4] Luo Shang |
Li Xiong Fan Changsheng[5] |
Ji Sang † Shi Le (before 307) | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| c. 100,000 Xiongnu, Jie, Di, Qiang, Xianbei, Han Chinese and other tribal people | 100,000–200,000 Han Chinese, Xianbei, Qiang, Di and Wuhuan | Ba-Di rebels and Han Chinese allies | Han Chinese and non-Han rebels | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
| Upheaval of the Five Barbarians | |||||||||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 五胡亂華 | ||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 五胡乱华 | ||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Five Barbarians disorderize China | ||||||||||||
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The Upheaval of the Five Barbarians also translated as the Uprising, Rebellion[6] or the Revolt[7] of the Five Barbarians (simplified Chinese: 五胡乱华; traditional Chinese: 五胡亂華; lit. 'Five foreign tribes disrupting China'[8]) is a Chinese expression used to refer to a chaotic period of warfare during the Jin dynasty (266–420) roughly between 304 and 316 which heavily involved non-Han peoples living in China, commonly called the Five Barbarians. Coinciding with the War of the Eight Princes that greatly weakened the empire, these conflicts eventually drove the Jin imperial court out of northern and southwestern China.
The "Five Barbarians" were the Xiongnu, Jie, Qiang, Di and Xianbei, many of whom had resettled within China during the preceding centuries. Despite the period's name, many Han Chinese and other tribal people like the Wuhuan were also involved in the uprisings and often joined forces with the Five Barbarians. Years of poor administration and civil wars between the ruling princes left the empire vulnerable to its disaffected and opportunistic subjects. Ethnic tensions in the Guanzhong region between the Han and the tribes, primarily the Qiang and Di, led to major revolts which resulted in an influx of refugees into southwestern China. Efforts to force them back to Guanzhong were met with resistance and culminated in the rebellion of the Ba-Di refugee, Li Te in 301.
In the north, the Southern Xiongnu of Shanxi took advantage of the Jin prince's infighting to establish the state of Han-Zhao in 304, acclaiming the noble, Liu Yuan as their ruler. As anti-Jin revolts spread to Hebei and Shandong, a former Jie slave, Shi Le, rose to prominence, and after joining Liu Yuan, he would effectively control the eastern part of his empire. The Xianbei Duan tribe in Liaoxi and Tuoba tribe in Dai were initially important allies of Jin in helping them fight against Han, but later pulled out from the conflict to consolidate control over their territories.
Li Te's son Li Xiong captured Chengdu and established Cheng-Han in 304. In 311, Han captured Emperor Huai of Jin and the ancient capital, Luoyang in an event known as the Disaster of Yongjia. In 316, Jin's hope of restoring imperial authority in the north were crushed when Han defeated and captured Emperor Min in Chang'an. The establishments of Cheng-Han and Han-Zhao in 304 were seen as the start of the Sixteen Kingdoms period, and the defeat of Emperor Min led to the formation of the Eastern Jin dynasty by Emperor Yuan in Jiankang in 318. For the next 130 years or so, China would be divided between the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Eastern Jin before the eventual dissolution of Jin by the Liu Song dynasty and the unification of the north by the Northern Wei dynasty.
- ^ Knechtges, David R.; Chang, Taiping, eds. (2010). Ancient and Early Medieval Chinese Literature (vol.I): A Reference Guide, Part One. Brill. p. 547. ISBN 978-9004191273.
- ^ Chinese Literature, Essays, Articles, Reviews, Volume 28. Coda Press. 2006. pp. 13, 14, 54.
- ^ A History of Chinese Letters and Epistolary Culture (illustrated ed.). Brill. 2015. p. 216. ISBN 978-9004292123.
- ^ Renditions, Issues 33-36. Centre for Translation Projects, Chinese University of Hong Kong. 1990. pp. 102, 103.
- ^ Kleeman, Terry F. (1998). Great Perfection (illustrated ed.). University of Hawaii Press. p. 98. ISBN 0824818008.
- ^ Yanjing da xue (1948). The Yenching Journal of Social Studies, Volume 4. Yenching University. pp. 23–24.
- ^ Qian Guo (2020). Beijing: Geography, History, and Culture. ABC-CLIO. p. 28. ISBN 9781440868054.
- ^ Lim, An-king (2006). "On Old Turkic consonantism and vocalic divisions of acute consonants in Medieval Hàn phonology". In Branner, David Prager (ed.). Chinese Rime Tables: Linguistic philosophy and historical-comparative phonology. John Benjamins. p. 61.